Police Investigating Vandalism in Parking Garage as Hate Crime
Published on September 27, 2021
Palo Alto, CA – Police are investigating a vandalism case at a downtown parking garage as a hate crime, after an unknown suspect wrote a racial epithet on a sign and drew an offensive symbol near a stairwell.
On Friday, September 24, 2021, at about 5:32 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call of a vandalism that had just been discovered in City Lot “R,” the parking garage at 528 High Street. The reporting party, a passerby, told police that they had observed offensive graffiti in two places on the second floor of the garage.
An officer responded and observed the graffiti, both of which had been drawn using a black marker. One was a racial epithet directed at Black people, and the other was an anti-Jewish symbol. Police promptly notified a Public Works crew to remove the writings. Police do not know when the crime occurred but believe that it occurred sometime since September 15, as the entire garage had been checked by staff then.
This is the second similar graffiti vandalism hate crime reported in this parking garage in September, with the prior case being discovered on September 15. To view details on other hate crime vandalisms reported in public spaces in 2021, visit /PAPDnews and search by keyword “hate.” Police believe it is possible that the crimes committed in Lot “R” have been committed by the same suspect, but there is no known connection with the other cases. Police have yet to identify a suspect in any of the incidents.
In the wake of recent national events and increased attention on hate crimes, the personnel of the Palo Alto Police Department continue to show their commitment to thoroughly investigate any reported hate crimes in Palo Alto. In late March, the Palo Alto City Council denounced violence directed at people of Asian descent, and that came on the heels of months of efforts with City Council’s ongoing conversations and work on race and equity. You are welcome to read a blog post from the City entitled “Steps the Community Can Take to Help Stop Hate Crimes.” The City of Palo Alto strongly denounces hate crimes of all kinds, and encourages members of our community to promptly report these incidents by calling our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413, or 9-1-1 if it is an emergency.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.